Music Hall renovation costs hit $165M

You might have seen the news that the city of Cincinnati wants to sell Music Hall for $1 to the Music Hall Revitalization Company, Inc., or MHRC, a nonprofit that was formed to oversee a massive renovation of the historic performance space.

And discerning readers might have wondered, “Wait, how much is that renovation going to cost?”

The answer, according to a report prepared for the city planning commission, is $165 million. (The report also says the renovation is expected to take about five years and that Messer Construction will be the construction manager for the project.)

Back when MHRC was formed to oversee the renovation in 2010, the price tag routinely used for the job was $100 million. I wrote a story last May that the actual cost could be as high as $150 million.

Now the cost being reported is $165 million.

The increase shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Music Hall is 144 years old and is made up of three separate buildings. The renovation, to put it mildly, will be complicated.

I asked about the change in cost, and I got an emailed response from the MHRC board. The $100 million cost was determined “very, very early in the planning for this project,” the e-mail said.

“As planning has moved through the detail design phase, additional costs, needs and potential enhancements were identified,” according to the board’s e-mail. “What was assumed to be approximately $10 million in infrastructure needs, for example, are now determined to be closer to $50 million once more detailed analysis was completed.”

The nonprofit has identified needed improvements to the “patron experience” as well as additional needs of the arts organizations that call Music Hall home.

“The rise in cost is to be expected given the complexities involved,” the board’s response said.

The board also confirmed that the project won’t get started quite as soon as expected.

MHRC has decided to delay the construction part of the revitalization project by about a year. (That work was going to begin next spring.) The board will continue to work on fundraising during that time, according to another statement from the MHRC board. So far, the group has raised about $11.5 million towards the project’s $165 million cost.

“MHRC remains 100 percent committed to this project, which is vitally important to the arts organizations that call Music Hall home, as well as to the continuing revitalization of Over-The-Rhine and to our community,” the statement said. “Revitalizing Music Hall is a remarkably complex undertaking. We believe taking a little more time to get everything exactly right makes sense.”

So what do you think? How much is it worth to you to revitalize Music Hall?